I disagree with Radio-Television News Directors Association Chairman Ed Esposito’s decision to allow WGME-TV to keep its Edward R. Murrow Award for a series of stories it produced about a medical team’s work in China.
Maine Foundation for Cardiac Surgery paid for WGME’s nine-day trip to Shanghai, which the Portland, Maine, station clearly disclosed at the beginning of each segment of its project, “The China Journey.” The stories were well-told, and the photojournalism and editing was strong.
After the story aired, local competitors called the deal into question. The station then revisited the issue after the Murrow awards were announced last week. (Disclosure: Both my Poynter colleague Bob Steele and I were quoted in those stories as being critical of the subsidized travel.)
In my opinion, and in the minds of the two RTNDA board members who Esposito asked to review the case, the ethical dilemmas the series presents were enough to not recognize the work with a Murrow Award.
The board members recommended that a penalty be imposed, but Esposito overruled the recommendation, siding instead with the original judges.
I should disclose that Esposito is a good friend of mine, with whom I almost always agree on issues such as these. I have written several articles for RTNDA’s Communicator magazine, and I’ve done a fair amount of paid ethics teaching for the Radio and Television News Directors Foundation, which is the foundation arm of RTNDA. Next week, I will teach at the group’s national convention.
In a note to me Thursday morning, Esposoto said he hoped this case would not end with his decision, but continue in professional circles to help define and strengthen the ethics of our craft.
Why I think the decision was wrong
Widely accepted journalism ethics suggest that journalists should not accept free travel to theme parks, cruise ships, etc. I can’t imagine any serious newsroom pretending that would be acceptable, even if it is disclosed to the public.
Travel writers frequently practice similar behavior that I consider to be unethical when they accept travel and hotel reimbursements from the very places they are covering. It is, to me, an obvious conflict of interest that disclosure will not erase.
RTNDA’s Code of Ethics speaks to the issue of independence, which can be summed up in the following lines:
Accept gifts, favors, or compensation from those who might seek to influence coverage.
Professional electronic journalists should:
Gather and report news without fear or favor, and vigorously resist undue influence from any outside forces, including advertisers, sources, story subjects, powerful individuals, and special interest groups.
* Resist those who would seek to buy or politically influence news content or who would seek to intimidate those who gather and disseminate the news.
* Determine news content solely through editorial judgment and not as the result of outside influence.
* Resist any self-interest or peer pressure that might erode journalistic duty and service to the public.
* Recognize that sponsorship of the news will not be used in any way to determine, restrict, or manipulate content.
RTNDA’s guidelines for balancing journalism values and business pressures also state that “news directors should insist that newsroom employees do not accept gifts, favors or other compensation from those who might seek to influence coverage.”
In the case of WGME, the travel was not frivolous. It highlighted very good work being done by local doctors to save lives, and it was the type of story that could generate community support. The station said it could not have afforded to cover the story if it had to pay its own tab, but I don’t buy it.
In general, news organizations should not allow the phrase “In these tough economic times …” to become reason to bend ethical rules that have guided our craft through decades of good economic times.
Moreover, the national Edward R. Murrow contest should represent the peak of ethical behavior. If RTNDA does not enforce its code of ethics in its national contest, then it misses a key opportunity to say what the association stands for.
When he delivered his now famous speech at the 1958 RTNDA Convention, Murrow closed by saying, “Stonewall Jackson, who knew something about the use of weapons, is reported to have said, ‘When war comes, you must draw the sword and throw away the scabbard.’ The trouble with television is that it is rusting in the scabbard during a battle for survival.”
Responses from Esposoto and WGME-TV News Director Robb Atkinson
After writing this piece, I sent Esposito a copy of it. You can read his full response here, but here is part of what he said:
I also sent the piece to WGME’s news director, Robb Atkinson, who defended his station to RTNDA last week, saying in part:
I congratulate WGME for telling well-crafted stories and for disclosing how the travel for the stories had been paid for. But RTNDA should have listened to the discomfort that some on the judging panel expressed and to both of its national board members who said disclosure is not enough.
The station’s heart was in the right place, but it should have put its wallet there too. Not doing so now gives stations nationwide an out when the boss comes knocking with a free trip to cover a worthwhile story.
